Wire deflection guide

ABSTRACT

A wire deflection guide includes a curved surface that deflects a wire out of an electrical box. The guide is held in place within an electrical box by a suitable means such as a channel or protrusion at one end of the guide that rests against a bottom lip of the electrical box. An opposite end of the guide rests against a back wall of the electrical box. The guide allows wire to be pushed through conduit and out of the electrical box without an operator being proximate the box.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a wire deflection guide for use in feeding wire through an electrical box. More particularly, it relates to a wire deflection guide which may be easily attached to an electrical box to deflect wires out of an electrical box after the wire is fed through a conduit leading to the electrical box.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

When installing electrical service infrastructure during the construction of a building, it is common to add wire to the infrastructure after electrical boxes and conduit are installed within the building. One method of introducing wire through the conduits has been feeding the wire from the bottom of the wall to the top, normally using a fish tape (or some other flexible leader) fed from an opening at the top of the conduit down into a lower electrical box where an end thereof is attached to a length of wire to be pulled upward through the conduit. This method normally takes two people. One person pulls the tape from the top while another person makes sure the wire at the bottom lines up with the conduit and does not snag on either the edge of the electrical box or the edge of the conduit. Various apparatuses have been developed to allow this methodology to be accomplished by one person, such as partially inserting a guide surface into the conduit and out of the electrical box to allow one user to pull from the top without the need for another person to guide the wires into the conduit manually. However, this can require complicated set-up, having to feed the fish tape through the apparatus and attaching it to the wire before heading back to the top of the wall to pull the wire through the conduit, and can cause the insulation surrounding the wire to rub against the corners of the conduit or electrical box as it is being pulled out of the electrical box.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, the present invention involves a wire deflection guide that is easily installed at one end of an electrical system infrastructure, allowing wire to be introduced into the system by one person. The wire guide can be used for fast, efficient introduction and routing of electrical wire through electrical service infrastructure. The invention requires minimal set-up involving introducing the guide into an electrical box such that it remains attached to the box. Also, the installed guide may allow wire being introduced into the box to slide along the guide and out of the box without being caught up on any interior corners of the box.

In one exemplary embodiment the invention relates to a wire deflection guide comprising: an upper surface; a lower surface; a first end; a second end; and a stop on said lower surface proximate said second end.

In another exemplary embodiment the invention relates to a wire deflection guide for use in installing wire in an electrical system having an electrical box connected to conduit, the wire deflection guide comprising: an upper surface; a lower surface; a first end; a second end; and a stop on said lower surface proximate said second end; whereby upon insertion of said guide into the electrical box, said stop registers with a bottom edge of the opening of the electrical box in order to hold said guide in place after wire contacts said upper surface after the wire is introduced from the conduit into the electrical box.

In yet another exemplary embodiment the invention relates to a method of feeding wire through an electrical system having an electrical box on a lower wall portion where the electrical box has a front wall, a back wall, a top wall and a bottom wall, the front wall defining an opening and having a bottom lip, the top wall defining an aperture that is spaced from the back wall, and a conduit connected to the electrical box at the aperture and extending upwards to an upper wall portion, the method including the steps of: installing a wire deflection guide having an upper surface, a lower surface, a first end and a second end; wherein said lower surface defines a stop proximate said second end; wherein said first end sits against the back of the electrical box such that said upper surface at said first end of said guide is closer to the back of the electrical box than the aperture; wherein said channel receives the bottom lip of the electrical box to hold said wire deflection guide in place relative to the electrical box; and feeding an end of the wire into the conduit and through the aperture of the electrical box from the upper wall portion downward toward the electrical box, wherein feeding is accomplished by pushing wire into the electrical box; deflecting the wire along said upper surface upon further advancement of the wire into the electrical box where the end of the wire contacts and slides along said upper surface; and directing the wire through the opening of the electrical box.

The subject matter of this application may involve, in some cases, interrelated products, alternative solutions to a particular problem, and/or a plurality of different uses of a single system or article.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a first preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a standard electrical box.

FIG. 4 is a side view of an electrical box with the invention shown in FIG. 1 installed.

FIG. 5A shows a first position of wire being fed through an electrical box.

FIG. 5B shows a second position of wire being fed through an electrical box.

FIG. 5C shows a third position of wire being fed through an electrical box.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a second preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an electrical box with the invention shown in FIG. 6 installed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one aspect, a wire guide is provided that facilitates the installation of electrical wire into an electrical box. The wire can be pushed through installed conduit that has been previously secured to the box. Typically, the wire is pushed downwardly from a floor above. The conduit may be contained within a block wall. No pulling is necessary so wire can be installed by a single operator working above the target electrical box. The guide eliminates the need for a second party to be stationed at the electrical box to pull the wire through. Coated electrical wire can be stretched, abraded or nicked when it is forcefully pulled through an electrical box. By pushing, rather than pulling, less stress may be applied to the wire, resulting in fewer failures.

As seen in FIGS. 1 through 5C, one preferred embodiment of wire deflection guide 100 is illustrated. Wire deflection guide 100 can be used when installing wire 500 into electrical service infrastructure so that one person can install wire 500 into the electrical box 300 without being physically at the box. The guide 100 may be constructed and arranged such that wire 500 is guided along a surface that causes the wire 500 to exit the electrical box 300 without the wire 500 becoming stuck on an inside corner of the box 300. This can provide a length of wire that is acceptable for making the desired electrical connections at the box.

As seen in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, wire deflection guide 100 may have an upper surface 101, a lower surface 102, a first end 103, and a second end 104. A stop, such as notch 105, is located on the lower surface 102 proximate second end 104. As shown in FIG. 2, the guide 100 has a width w. Width w may be chosen to correspond to the width of an electrical box 300 with which the guide is used, or any other device with which the guide can be used. Widths usable in single gang (one electrical device such as a standard outlet), double gang, or larger electrical boxes are contemplated. Furthermore, an installer can use multiple guides 100 having the same or different widths to accommodate any particular electrical box width. For example, if installing wire in a triple gang electrical box, a guide that is the width of a triple gang box can be used, or alternatively, a single gang width guide and a double gang width guide can be used together.

FIG. 3 depicts a cross-section of an electrical box 300. The electrical box 300 has a top wall 301, a back wall 302, and a bottom wall 303. The front of the electrical box 300 is substantially open with an upper lip 304 and a lower lip 305. A coupling 320 is attached to the top wall 301 of the box by lock nut 321. A conduit 310 enters electrical box 300 through the coupling 320, and is held in place by set screw 322. Electrical wire 500 is then introduced though the conduit 310 from a remote location, for example from an above floor or the top of a block wall. Without the guide 100 in place, wire end 501 of wire 500 typically moves into the electrical box 300 until it reaches bottom wall 303. The wire end 501 may then slide along bottom wall 303 until it hits the bottom lip 305, preventing the wire from progressing any further. This leads to a short length of wire 500 that is not easy to work with when installing electrical devices into the electrical box 300. An electrical device such as an outlet or light switch is typically connected to the wire 500 outside of the electrical box 300 and then screwed into holes in the upper lip 304 and lower lip 305. Therefore, the wire end 501 should extend outside of the electrical box 300 in order to provide a length suitable for connection to an electrical device.

FIGS. 5A-5C depict an exemplary method of using the guide 100 to cause the wire 500 to extend beyond the box 300. In FIG. 5A, guide 100 is shown installed within a standard electrical box 300 such that the first end 103 of guide 100 rests against the back wall 302 of the electrical box 300 and notch 105 is placed over lower lip 305 to hold the guide 100 in place. The upper surface 101 of proximate end 103 may extend to some point closer to back wall 302 than the conduit 310 so that wire 500 coming out of the conduit can hit and slide along the upper surface 101 of guide 100 as seen in FIG. 5B. First end 103 of guide 100 can be tapered so that the upper surface 103 can be closer to the back wall 302 of electrical box 300. As shown in FIG. 5C, the wire end 501 is able to slide along the upper surface 101 of guide 100 and out of electrical box 300 without hitting any obstruction. Wire may be pushed out of the box to any desired length without pulling. Wire 500 in FIGS. 5A-5C may be a single wire or multiple wires that are separate or together. Furthermore, the wire 500 may be any gauge wire, including wire typically used in commercial installations.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment where protrusion 605 is used in place of notch 105 as a stop. As seen in FIG. 7, protrusion 605 rests against lower lip 305 to hold the guide 100 in place. The protrusion 605 does not have to extend the width w of the guide 100. Additionally, protrusion 605 can be made up of a plurality of protrusions. A protrusion can be, for example, a ridge, a pin, or a series of pins. It is noted that in other embodiments a combination of a notch and a protrusion would also function to hold guide 100 in place inside of electrical box 300. The notch, protrusion, or combination thereof each represent an example of a stop to retain the guide 100 in the electrical box 300, and especially upon a substantially vertical force applied to the guide 100 from wire 500 being pushed into electrical box 300.

While the shape of guide 100 is shown in the drawings to be substantially concave, it should be noted that any shape having an upper surface 101 that is able to direct a wire 500 out of the electrical box 300 can be used. For example, in some embodiments, lower surface 102 of guide 100 can sit flush against bottom wall 303 of electrical box 300 as long as upper surface 101 is situated so as to guide a wire out of electrical box 300. This can be accomplished by having an upper surface 101 that extends above lower lip 305, or having an upper surface 101 that directs a wire end 501 upwards as it reaches the lower lip 305. Upper surface 101 can be concave as pictured, as well as straight or convex.

Furthermore, FIG. 2 shows guide 100 to be a three-dimensional shape described as a profile or polygonal extrusion, where a two-dimensional bound area (such as the profile seen in FIG. 1) moves in space while its containing plane is kept orthogonal to the tangent direction of the trajectory line or curve. While FIG. 2 shows a polygonal extrusion along a straight line, creating a substantially flat upper surface 101 in the width direction, the polygonal extrusion can also be along a curved line to create a more trough-like guide 100 (not shown) having a concave upper surface viewed from a cross-section taken across the width of guide 100.

The guide 100 can be formed of any suitable material that is rigid enough to withstand the force of a wire 500 being pressed against the upper surface 101 of the guide 100, as well as providing a smooth upper surface 101 with a low enough coefficient of friction so that the end 501 of wire 500 can easily slide along the upper surface 101. The guide 100 should be durable such that it can be removed and repeatedly installed elsewhere numerous times. Exemplary materials for guide 100 include sheet materials such as sheet metal or plastic sheeting; plastic/polymers; metal; rubber; wood; or a combination of such materials. Also, a rigid core material coated with a low-friction material upon at least said upper surface of said guide can be used. Appropriate polymers may include, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic, PVC, PTFE, polyamide and polystyrene.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing the functions and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the present invention. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the teachings of the present invention is/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed. The present invention is directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the scope of the present invention.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the defined terms. 

1. A wire deflection guide comprising: an upper surface; a lower surface; a first end; a second end; and a stop on said lower surface proximate said second end.
 2. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the stop is a substantially transverse channel formed within said lower surface.
 3. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the stop is a protrusion extending from said lower surface.
 4. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the stop comprises a plurality of protrusions extending from said lower surface.
 5. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the stop comprises at least one protrusion extending from said lower surface in combination with a substantially transverse channel formed within said lower surface.
 6. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the distance between said upper portion and said lower portion decreases proximate said first end.
 7. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the guide is made of a polymer.
 8. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the guide is made of metal.
 9. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the guide is made of a sheet material.
 10. The wire deflection guide of claim 9, wherein the sheet material is metal.
 11. The wire deflection guide of claim 8, wherein the sheet material is plastic.
 12. The wire deflection guide of claim 1 wherein the guide is made from a rigid core material coated with a low-friction material upon at least said upper surface of said guide.
 13. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein said upper surface is substantially smooth.
 14. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the guide has a substantially concave shape.
 15. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the guide is constructed and arranged to fit inside a single-gang electrical box.
 16. The wire deflection guide of claim 1, wherein the guide is constructed and arranged to fit inside of a double-gang electrical box.
 17. A method of feeding wire through an electrical system having an electrical box on a lower wall portion where the electrical box has a front wall, a back wall, a top wall and a bottom wall, the front wall defining an opening and having a bottom lip, the top wall defining an aperture that is spaced from the back wall, and a conduit connected to the electrical box at the aperture and extending upwards to an upper wall portion, the method including the steps of: installing a wire deflection guide having an upper surface, a lower surface, a first end and a second end; wherein said lower surface defines a stop proximate said second end; wherein said first end sits against the back of the electrical box such that said upper surface at said first end of said guide is closer to the back of the electrical box than the aperture; wherein said channel receives the bottom lip of the electrical box to hold said wire deflection guide in place relative to the electrical box; and feeding an end of the wire into the conduit and through the aperture of the electrical box from the upper wall portion downward toward the electrical box, wherein feeding is accomplished by pushing wire into the electrical box; deflecting the wire along said upper surface upon further advancement of the wire into the electrical box where the end of the wire contacts and slides along said upper surface; and directing the wire through the opening of the electrical box.
 18. The method of feeding wire through an electrical system of claim 14, wherein the distance between said upper surface and said lower surface of the guide decreases proximate said first end.
 19. The method of feeding wire through an electrical system of claim 14, where the electrical box is wider than a single-gang electrical box, and wherein the installing step further comprises installing a plurality of guides into the electrical box to accommodate the width of the electrical box.
 20. A wire deflection guide for use in installing wire in an electrical system having and electrical box connected to conduit, the wire deflection guide comprising: an upper surface; a lower surface; a first end; a second end; and a stop on said lower surface proximate said second end; whereby upon insertion of said guide into the electrical box, said stop registers with a bottom edge of the opening of the electrical box in order to hold said guide in place after wire contacts said upper surface after the wire is introduced from the conduit into the electrical box. 